


panda bubblegum

by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, well kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-29 23:10:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15083789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/Miraphina%20Atherton
Summary: There's no such thing as "garish," and green tea cures anything.





	panda bubblegum

**Author's Note:**

> The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Read, review, and enjoy!

A young witch snorted into her drink, stifling a laugh at another witch entering the Leaky Cauldron. Pink didn't quite mesh with the place's interior.

"Pink is a happy color, you brat," the second witch told the first as she slid into the booth across from her.

The first pointed to her own heavily outlined eyes. There were practically purple _rings_ around her eyes; she didn't like makeup very much, but eye makeup was an exception. "No, violet is." She said it with a smirk, and both of them laughed.

"Ah, Miss Chang…" The second witch changed her hair color from pink to dark purple. "There—is that better?"

Cho Chang mustered a smile and cupped her cheek, leaning on the table. "You don't have to change, Nym."

Nymphadora Tonks' playful grin faded. "I wanted to."

The Asian witch sighed and smeared her purple eyeliner. "You won't catch Lupin that way," she chided.

Tonks scrunched up her nose. "It's no use with him. I—I think I'll forget about that jerk."

Cho gave her a look. "He's really a jerk?"

"…no, he's not. But he's not for me." _Especially not since Sirius died_ , Tonks internally added. She'd always had a funny feeling about those two. Tonks looked at Cho. She wanted to say something about Cedric, but nothing came to mind. More than a year ago, Cho had lost him, and this past year Cho had tried finding comfort in Harry. "Biggest mistake ever," Cho had said when she'd first met Tonks. That was a few months ago, at the beginning of the summer.

"I'm not looking forward to my last year," Cho stated with a grumble. "I've tired myself of crying—I think I might just turn into a crazy bitch for all it counts."

Tonks chuckled; Cho rarely swore. "You won't go crazy…"

She grinned. "I might. Something seems to happen every year—some worse than the last." She furrowed her brow. "I don't want to go next month."

Tonks thought for a second. "Then why are we here?"

"Huh?"

"Why are we stuck here in the Leaky Cauldron? Why not change it up?"

Cho appeared to like the idea. "That could work…"

"Great! Take me to a Muggle restaurant!"

" _Nym_!"

Tonks winked and left money for their barely touched drinks. Outside, she zipped up her jacket and returned her hair to its rosy hue.

"Oh, Merlin… If we're going anywhere, you've got to be normal. Pink is so… _garish_!" Cho stifled another laugh and dodged Tonks swatting at her.

"Hey! There's no such thing. Especially my hair. It's…bubblegum. Everyone likes bubblegum."

"I don't," Cho deadpanned. She burst out laughing again when Tonks glared at her.

"So," she said, changing the subject, "where are we going?"

"Have you ever had Asian before?"

Tonks snickered. "I didn't know you were so forward, Chang."

Cho blushed. "Uh! I didn't mean it like _that_!" She smacked her head. "Oh, never mind… Let's just go to this Chinese place I know."

Tonks walked with her across London until they came to a street of international restaurants. Wonderful aromas floated out of the places, and the ethnic decorations caught the Metamorphmagus' eye. If Cho thought _her_ transformations were garish, then obviously Cho hadn't really looked at these restaurants before.

"Here," Cho said, holding the door open for them. They walked into a tiny Chinese restaurant and were seated by a young hostess in the back.

"It's so cool in here…"

Cho smiled. "It's different, being a half-blood and actually embracing the Muggle part of yourself. My mum's always taking me to fun Muggle places." She let her thoughts end there when the waiter came for their order. Cho picked a few things off the menu for them to share and passed the waiter the menus before resuming conversation. "Hey, Nym."

Tonks looked at her. "What?"

"You know Harry pretty well."

Tonks tensed. "I've told you…I can't talk much about that…"

"I know, I know… Still, protect him, will you?" Cho bit her bottom lip. "And protect _yourself_ , too. I didn't realize how good a friend I could make in only a couple of months."

The Auror nodded. She dropped her eyes to the table. "Hey, Cho…"

"Hmm?"

"If I hadn't been at King's Cross Station that time—y'know, a week after everyone came home from school—would you have kept everything about Cedric bottled up? Or would you have hexed the people walking by?"

For a moment, Tonks thought Cho would just brush the comment off. Then she thought Cho's face might crumble and the poor witch would break down. Instead, Cho gave her a brittle smile. "I think I would have just quietly lost it."

Tonks looked at her hands, mindlessly changing her nails from plain to blue to green to red to purple. She had never been able to keep her nose out of anything, so when she'd seen this pretty witch with her nose all splotchy staring numbly at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Tonks had merrily marched up to her, announcing, "Wotcher, mate, whose balls do I need to curse for you?" And that had been the basis of a quirky little friendship.

Cho sniffled, swiping at her already smeared eye makeup again as the waiter brought them green tea and poured a cup for both of them. "Oh, Revered Rowena… I must look like a panda right about now," she said with a choky laugh.

"I don't like pandas," Tonks quipped with a wink. Her hand moved on its own to hold Cho's free one.

The Asian witch paused with a shaky smile. "…yes, you do."

Tonks laughed and sipped her tea. Her eyes went wide. "Wow! This stuff is good!"

Cho sipped her own drink. "Mum always said green tea can cure anything. That, and good company."

"Good thing you have the best," the Auror joked.

"I do, don't I?"

Tonks grinned, a happy little flop flipping in her stomach. Her face unusually warm, she looked at the table. "Cho, I just have one really important question for you."

"Yes?" Cho's black eyes were wide and…expectant, perhaps.

Tonks held up the chopsticks. "Do you really eat the food with knock-off wands?"

**Author's Note:**

> XDDD I'll note: I've never been to London, so that was creative license about the street and stuff. Yep. And I like the name "Panda Bubblegum" for the pairing. That'd be cool. "Who's your fav femslash pairing?" "Oh, Panda Bubblegum." "WTF?" XD Unusually complementary, they are. ;]
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki :3
> 
> 2017 note: XDDD *LOL* I love the flirty atmosphere here, tho it's kind of pre-femslash. They're rly quite cute, tho! :D Still can't believe this is the only time I've written them so far… ;w;


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